The Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona (FNOB) was created in 2005 with the aim of encouraging a culture for the sea and increasing the level of offshore sailing in Spain as fitting for a country with such a great maritime tradition.The creation of the FNOB was the result of the work of a platform created by the Barcelona City Council, the Fira de Barcelona, the Barcelona Port Authority, Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, and the technical management of the Consorci EL FAR.

The Fundació is based on three main strategies: sport, industry and technology and communication. The creation and organisation of the Barcelona World Race is a particularly noteworthy achievement – the first round the world sailing race of international scope to be organised in Spain. The first edition (November 2007 to March 2008) saw 18 of the best skippers in the world set sail from Barcelona on nine new IMOCA class racing yachts.

The regatta, the first round the world race to be named after a city, was a huge sporting and media success. It has made an enormous difference to the FNOB objectives, and in the time leading up to the next edition of the race, that starts on 31st December 2010, a number of projects are being developed to encourage and promote activities related to high-level offshore sailing competition.One of the projects in question is the ‘Sailing Team’, the conception and construction of a nautical base in Barcelona, with seminars and activities held at the university to promote the human, scientific, technological and communication value of offshore sailing, and the organization of other races such as the Istanbul Europa Race and the record for New York-Barcelona crossing in spring 2010.

Organization

Institutional Support

Patrons

Support provided by

Technical sport committee